


i wanna hold your heart in both hands.

by paleromantic



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Artist AU, College AU, Cuddling, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, grantaire is an artist and enjolras is his muse, i love these boys i promise i'll get better at writing them, this isn't good but hey it's finished
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-10-06 18:23:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17350277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paleromantic/pseuds/paleromantic
Summary: “Holy shit. You didn’t.”Enjolras grinned, picking up one of his sketches and then looking over at him. “I know, I know. Best boyfriend in the universe.”“Damn right.” Grantaire groaned around a mouthful of doughnut. “I love you.”





	i wanna hold your heart in both hands.

**Author's Note:**

> hi i'm super emo over les mis high five

Grantaire had the title of his first real art collection picked out in his head, had had it picked up since he had finished his first proper portfolio at the start of first year. He remembered the moment like it was yesterday, the way that it had all looked together spread out on his desk like that and he had thought, _hey, maybe I could do this forever_. The thought had stuck with him throughout his college career, and it was with him still as he stared at the skeleton of his final project, exhausted and covered in smudged graphite. He really could do this forever.

That was, if he finished the fucking project on time.

He chewed on the end of his pencil again, before twirling it between his fingers and placing it against the paper again. He had been doing exactly that for over an hour, praying for some inspiration, hoping for the motivation to actually complete this thing. He had a good few sketches, some finished pieces done in soft pastels, one watercolour. It wasn't enough though, it wasn’t nearly enough. His professor was going to be disappointed when he went back into class, she would give him one of her patented _‘You’re not trying hard enough, Grantaire’_ looks.

The pressure of it all almost brought tears to his eyes, and he ground the heels of his hands into his eyes to stop himself from giving in to the stress.

"You are _not_ going to cry over a stupid art project." He shook his head and stood up, going to the kitchen counter and taking a sip of his abandoned coffee, long since gone cold. He didn't even grimace. He allowed himself a couple of minutes to walk around, stretch out his arms and hands, and brew a cup of tea, before he settled in to work again. He managed to get out a couple of more sketches, a coffee cup with a crack in the side of it, a crosshatched shirt thrown over a chair.

He was halfway through finishing off the shading in the sleeve of the shirt when the sound of someone walking behind him broke him out of his concentration.

“I knocked, but when you didn’t answer I just let myself in.” Grantaire relaxed at the sound of his boyfriend’s voice, and stretched up to let him drop a kiss on his hair.

“Sorry, just…”

“Stressed over this project, I know.” Enjolras put down a paper bag on the desk, and then sank into the seat beside him. Grantaire slid a couple of papers back into their folder, and then pulled the bag towards him to pull it open.

“Holy shit. You _didn’t_.”

Enjolras grinned, picking up one of his sketches and then looking over at him. “I know, I know. Best boyfriend in the universe.”

“Damn right.” Grantaire groaned around a mouthful of doughnut. “I love you.”

Enjolras laughed, and then put the drawing down again, careful as ever. Grantaire watched him, the way that the light from his desk lamp caught the man’s hair and made it look like spun gold, startng to curl where it was drying from the rain outside.

For the first time that day, Grantaire’s hand itched for his pencil.

He turned in his seat, propping his feet up on the chair and reaching for his sketchbook. His grabbed the pencil that he had tucked behind his head and then bit his lip, watching his boyfriend before bringing his pencil to paper. It came easily then, bold lines and sweeping curves soon forming the likeness of the man in front of him. It seemed poetic, that the subject of his first portfolio would make his way onto his final project too, and it had only been a matter of time. The sketch was done in a matter of minutes, and from there the linework was easy, adding hints of colour to the face and clothes. It was the first drawing that Grantaire had been satisfied with all day.

“Can I see?” Enjolras leaned over to see the sketchbook, and Grantaire turned the page toward him for him to see. He saw his boyfriend smile, and grinned.

“You like it?”

“You always make me look so… important.”

Grantaire rolled his eyes and kissed his cheek. “Because you are, Enj.”

Enjolras smoothed a thumb over the page, and then put it down. “Come on, you’ve stressed out enough for one day.”

After a few gentle tugs, Grantaire let himself be pulled away from the desk, snagging the paper bag before Enjolras dragged him to the couch. “You’re a bad influence.”

Enjolras rolled his eyes. “Stressing yourself out like this won’t help, you need to relax. You only need half a dozen more drawings, and we can go for a drive tomorrow if you want.”

Grantaire nodded and then took out another doughnut, taking a bite and settling onto the couch. “Interior design shows?”

His boyfriend grinned at him. “Interior design shows.”

He rested his head on Enjolras’s chest, and groaned. “I can’t wait to be finished with this project.”

“Just another two weeks, babe.”

Grantaire nodded, and then allowed himself to relax.

********************

“Coup de foudre.” Enjolras laughed softly, and then wrapped an arm over Grantaire’s shoulders. “You’re such a sap, you know that?”

Drawings covered the majority of the floor in Grantaire’s sitting room, and a common thread among them seemed to the Enjolras. There were plain sketches of him, focused studies of his eyes, his jaw, his hands, drawings of him curled up in bed, playing with his adopted stray cat, watering his plants.

They were fragments of Grantaire’s life, the life that he had made for himself in college. The professor had loved it, had complimented him on the coherency of the whole project, how it was tied together by the central figure in red. Grantaire hadn’t told her that it was his boyfriend, but he agreed that the reoccurrence of Enjolras really made the whole project look finished.

“It’s true.” He shrugged, and then leaned into Enjolras, kissing his cheek and watching the man’s cheeks grow pink. He sighed, and then rested his head on his shoulder. “I’m just so glad that it’s done.”

Enjolras huffed a laugh. “Now you can do it for the rest of your life, for fun.”

_I could do this forever._

Grantaire smiled and then shoved a hand in his pockets. “Yeah, I can.”


End file.
